Quayle Insists Abortion Remarks Don't Signal Change in His View

By KEVIN SACK,

Published: July 24, 1992

LEXINGTON, Ky., July 23—
Under increasing pressure to prove that he is a political asset, Vice President Dan Quayle found himself on the defensive once again today, this time on abortion, an issue that is central to his appeal to his conservative base.

Mr. Quayle intended to use today's trip to Indiana and Kentucky to shift blame for the country's economic troubles to the Democratic majority in Congress. But much of that message was obscured by the political storm surrounding his comments on Wednesday night that he would support his daughter "on whatever decision she made" if she decided to have an abortion.

Mr. Quayle, his wife and his aides all maintained today that the comment did not represent a softening of the Vice President's stance against abortion rights. Mr. Quayle said he had been talking only about a hypothetical situation involving a grown daughter.

Mr. Quayle and his wife, Marilyn, both said today that if their daughter, Corinne, who is 13 years old, became pregnant now, they would insist that she carry the pregnancy to term.

"Under the current situation, she would have the child," Mr. Quayle said at a news conference in Evansville, Ind., the first of two campaign stops. "We are pro-life and we are opposed to abortion."

He said he would support her decision "were she an adult."

"I would counsel her and encourage her not to have an abortion, but I would support my daughter," Mr. Quayle said. Fresh Ammunition

Mrs. Quayle, interviewed on a radio show in Des Moines today, said that if her daughter became pregnant now "she'll take the child to term." Asked if she would make that decision for her daughter, Mrs. Quayle said, "We will make it with her."

Mr. Quayle's remark about his daughter appeared to provide fresh ammunition for Gov. Bill Clinton, the Democratic Presidential nominee, and his supporters at a time when the Bush-Quayle campaign is trying to move onto the offensive.

"Sounds like choice to me," said House Speaker Thomas S. Foley, a Washington Democrat.

The trouble began during Mr. Quayle's appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live" program on Wednesday night, when Mr. King asked the Vice President how he would react if his daughter was pregnant.

"Well, it is a hypothetical situation and I hope that I never do have to deal with it," Mr. Quayle responded. "I would counsel her and talk to her and support her on whatever decision she made."

Mr. King asked whether he would support her if she decided to have an abortion.

"I'd support my daughter," Mr. Quayle said. "I would hope that she wouldn't make that decision."

Mr. Quayle defended his statement under questioning at both campaign stops today. By the time he landed at the airport in Lexington this afternoon, the abortion issue had become grist for a homemade anti-Quayle campaign poster. "Choice -- Is it only for the families of the powerful and the wealthy?" asked the sign, which was held by a woman in the crowd of several hundred people who greeted Mr. Quayle on the tarmac here. Losing Opportunities

William Kristol, Mr. Quayle's chief of staff, said, "The only thing that strikes me is the cynicism of the pro-abortion groups in trying to exploit a sincere and personal comment of the Vice President."

Mr. Clinton, speaking to reporters on the way to the Governor's office in Little Rock, Ark., said he did not think he should comment on Mr. Quayle's statement about his daughter. But he added, "I think it reinforces my position that these matters should not be turned back into crimes."

Later, Mr. Clinton said: "My impression is he was asked a question that he was not prepared for, prepped for. He answered it as a father, not a Vice President."

Asked what he would do if his 12-year-old daughter, Chelsea, were pregnant, Mr. Clinton said, "I wouldn't talk to the press about it."

Gov. Mario M. Cuomo of New York told reporters today in Albany that Mr. Quayle's remarks on Wednesday night constituted a "classic pro-choice position" because "you can't make a distinction between your own blood and everybody else's daughter."

For Mr. Quayle, the abortion controversy meant yet another suspension of political momentum. He faced a similar problem last month when his offensive on family values stalled after he misspelled the word potato in a New Jersey classroom.

This time, the trouble came at a juncture when Republican leaders, including some members of Congress, have been talking among themselves about whether President Bush should remove Mr. Quayle from the ticket to stop the Republicans' decline in public opinion polls. Support From Abortion Foes

Mr. Bush said on Wednesday that Mr. Quayle's place on the ticket was "very certain." But the discomfort caused by the polls is likely to focus attention on Mr. Quayle until the Republican National Convention begins in Houston on Aug. 17.

The Republican Party platform, which should be adopted at next month's convention, calls for a constitutional amendment to ban most abortions. Mr. Quayle has long opposed abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger.

Opponents of legal abortion consider him a more dependable ally than Mr. Bush, whose position on abortion has shifted over time. Aware that Mr. Quayle was in some political trouble, they rallied to his side today.

Mr. Quayle's statements were "consistent with his pro-life views, his role as a parent, and the reality that abortion is legal," said Wanda Franz, the president of the National Right To Life Committee.

Mr. Quayle's trip to his home state of Indiana and then to Kentucky was planned around tours of new subdivisions under construction. He said he wanted to "promote a little good news" by stressing that the weak economy makes it a good time to buy a house.

In a breakfast speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Evansville today Mr. Quayle demonstrated that he could make a joke at his own expense.

Referring to the now-infamous potato incident, Mr. Quayle said he knew how to spell liberal: C-L-I-N-T-O-N.

And in a bit of gallows humor, he joked about his use of the television character Murphy Brown to make the case for family values. "Actually," Mr. Quayle said, "I'm a little envious of Murphy Brown. At least she's guaranteed of coming back this fall."

Photos: On a campaign trip, Vice President Dan Quayle toured a home under construction in Evansville, Ind., with Jeff Hatfield, the builder. (pg. A1); Marilyn Quayle added to her husband's comments about abortion, saying that if their 13-year-old daughter became pregnant, they would insist that she carry the pregnancy to term. She attended a party fund raiser yesterday. (pg. A12) (Associated Press)